Ferris Wheel
by Ryuu Masken
Summary: The Moon Festival is being celebrated in Altamira, and Genis finds himself sharing a seat in the Ferris Wheel with Presea...


Genis swallowed hard. Tonight was the Moon Festival celebration in Altamira, and they had opened the amusement park at night for the occasion. He and Raine had stopped here on their journey against Half-Elf discrimination to talk to Regal about the laws in Altamira, and he invited—no, invited is not the right word—he insisted that they stay a few days and rested. He had even rented out the hotel for a few nights. Raine reluctantly agreed.

Now, here he was, in front of the Ferris Wheel with Presea. Presea had opted to stay with Regal and help out at Lezareno, which was rather saddening to Genis. He had hoped that she would come with him and Raine on their travels. It had been five months since then. Five months, and now, here he was, in front of the Ferris Wheel with Presea. How had he been tricked into this?

Oh, that's right. Regal had put him up to it. "It has been a long time," he said. "Why do you two not catch up in the Ferris Wheel," he said. Of course, Genis had been happy to accept when he wasn't directly next to Presea, but now, he could hardly keep his knees from shaking...

"Genis?" A quiet voice came from next to him. He jumped a bit.

"Y-Yes, Presea?"

"The Ferris Wheel has stopped, so we can get on now," she said almost monotonically, but he could hear the emotion in her voice. It was a bit of a relief to hear her emotions returning, Genis thought. She had still been regaining them when they reunited the worlds five months ago. Presea started for the carriage, and Genis nervously followed her. To a mixture of Genis's displeasure and happiness, there was only one seat in the carriage, so he would have to sit next to Presea. Across from the seat was a large window that would eventually overlook all of Altamira.

The operator closed the door as Genis and Presea took their seats, resulting in a large slam. Instinctively, they both looked at the source of the sound, and saw the operator speaking with Regal, who gave them both a smile and a wave. Genis looked away and suddenly found the designs on the floor highly interesting. It was a random arrangement of velvet red and black bubbles of assorted sizes. Genis vaguely wondered if they added such a classy thing to the Ferris Wheel for people like him, who were too nervous to look at their partner...

The carriage gave a sudden jolt, and their ascension began. Genis looked up a bit to watch the ground slowly drift away. He was up high, higher, and higher, alone with Presea. The very thought made his face flush a deep crimson. What should he say to her? It's been so long. Something as simple as "What's up" or "How have you been" was too... gah, why couldn't he think of something better?! Stupid, stupid Genis!

He gave Presea a sidelong glance. She was staring out the window in front of her, looking distant—er... more distant than usual, as if she was in deep thought. Oh, good job, Genis. She's bored with you already! Reaaaal smooth. He had to say something, and say it quick, or he might lose this chance for good. His palms started sweating against the leather of the seat, and it felt like there was a carnival of butterflies in his stomach, doing all sorts of flips and loop-the-loops. He still couldn't think of anything... he guessed he would have to go with whatever he had. Now or never, right...?

"S-So, Presea..." he began. Presea immediately snapped out of her reverie. "Wh-what has been going on with you?"

"Very little." Presea responded as if she expected the question. "Regal has destroyed several sections of the Exsphere mine, and it has been mostly paperwork besides that. I help him keep organized, and I perform the occasional errand."

"I s-see." Genis stammered. They were still rising, almost to the top, now. This was a rather slow Ferris Wheel, wasn't it? Well, that conversation was dead...

"...how about you?" Presea asked. The question had surprised him. Okay, so it wasn't dead.

"U-Uh, well... we've made a bit of progress in abolishing Half-Elf discrimination... Iselia and Izlood complied r-really quick, and so did the remnants of Palmacosta... we haven't done too much work on the Tethe'alla side yet, though. That's why we came here today, though from what Regal said, there wasn't much to be done here."

"Altamira is primarily composed of facilities run by the Lezareno Company." Presea responded, as if reciting data from one of those monitors in the Human Ranches. "Very little of the population are actual members of the city."

Genis opened his mouth to speak when a sudden jolt shook the words from his mind. "W-What was that?"

"It seems as if we have stopped," came her monotonic voice again.

Genis pulled his eyes from the floor and looked outside. The ride was over already? ...no, they were stuck at the top. "H-Hey... I thought this was supposed to just go in a full circle."  
"There is probably some sort of malfunction."

"I-I see." Genis's mind went blank again, but his eyes were fixated outside instead of on the floor. The sea of lights from Altamira was amazing. Simply stunning. But, it just made it all harder to think about what to say to Presea. He gave her another sidelong glance. She had become distant-looking again. What the hell was she thinking about?

Presea looked over the lights, studying them. She could trace out streets and paths she knew from traveling, and delivering messages across the town. Over, and over, the conversation she had with Regal had replayed in her mind, and she still could not decide what to do...

_"Presea, what is wrong?" Regal asked. The bubble-gum haired girl gave a slight jump._

_"I-It's nothing..." she responded. Though monotonic her voice may still have been, Regal had been around her long enough to pull the bits of emotion from it._

_"You were fine today until Genis and Raine showed up," he stated, searching her for a reaction. "Are you sure everything is okay?"_

_"Yes..." she lied. No, there was something wrong. She felt flustered and her chest hurt, but she did not want to worry Regal. "I... I was just thinking... about how old I am."_

_Regal frowned. He could only guess what caused this, and he was probably right. Probably. "Presea... do you want to hear something that Alicia had told me long ago?"_

_The girl looked up at him. "Alicia...?"_

_"She had confessed her love to me, and I told her that I feared returning her affection due to my status as a noble, and her status as a servant. I will never forget the words she said to me after that." Regal closed his eyes and let the memory wash over him. "'Regal,' she said, 'if you do love me, and if you do want happiness, you should not let something like status get in the way of that.' I could scarcely believe how blind I had been."_

_"Happiness..." Presea repeated, looking down at the plush carpeting of the room again._

_"Presea... if you want to be happy, you shouldn't let how old you really are get in the way of that."_

She looked over at Genis, who seemed to think that he could drill a hole in the floor with his eyes. The flustered feeling began to return slightly, and her heartbeat quickened. If she wanted to be happy...

"Genis," she said.

"Y-Yes, Presea?" The half-elven warlock asked, visibly shaking himself out of his daze.

"Have I ever told you... how old I really am?" She felt the pain in her chest returning.

"How old you... considering the Cruxis Crystal... you couldn't be older than Lloyd, could you?"

"...I..." she started. The pain grew larger and larger still. "I am... twenty-eight..."

"T-Twenty-eight?!" Genis repeated in total shock. She knew it. She never should have told him. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he would never see her the same again. It was her turn to stare at the ground this time. But, for a fleeting moment, Genis saw the pain in her eyes.

"But... th-that doesn't matter!" He exclaimed.

"Wh... what?" Presea looked back up at him again.

"I-It doesn't matter how old you are, you're still you!" He hated to quote Lloyd, but it was true.

"I'm... still me..." She repeated in a inaudible whisper. "You... are correct, Genis. You are... very wise. I should not let my age get in the way of what makes me happy." She looked out the window again with the smallest of smiles gracing her face. Seeing the smile caused Genis's insides to melt into some sort of warm goo that had a similar feeling to what apple gel on an open wound felt like... except immeasurably better, and without the pain of an open wound. Genis turned his gaze to the window, as well. The two sat in silence for a while, the Ferris Wheel remaining immobile.

"The lights of Altamira are very pretty." Presea suddenly said. "They make for... wonderful scenery."

"Y-Yeah," Genis agreed. They were pretty, but Presea was so much prettier.

Presea looked over at the young half-elf again. The lights from the city dancing upon his face revealed a nearly invisible blush. Presea made her decision. She moved slightly toward him, as not to be noticed, and curled her arm around his, and held onto his hand. She felt him stiffen in surprise, but that still wasn't enough to stop her from resting her head on his shoulder. She would not let her age... get in the way of what made her happy.

Genis's mind froze. He couldn't think, he couldn't speak, all he could do was feel the soft hand in his, the weight of her head on his shoulder, and smell the sweet strawberry scent wafting from her hair. He was left with little choice but to accept what was happening... though... a warm glow was spreading throughout his entire body, and a large smile growing on his face. As he regained his senses, he could hardly believe what was happening, but, when he gave her hand a small squeeze, and she returned it, he knew it was all real. He rested his head upon hers and gazed out the window in bliss.

"I am happy that I can watch this scenery with you, Genis," she said. "And... I think that if this carriage were to remain here forever... I would be content."

Genis had to agree.


End file.
